Everything You Need to Know about Southwest’s New Seats

Southwest Airlines announced today that its forthcoming Boeing 737 aircraft would get sleek new seats made by B/E Aerospace. Southwest, which is now the fourth-biggest airline in the U.S. by passengers carried, will roll out the first of the seats in mid-2016.

The new seats will be “the widest economy seats available” on a 737, Southwest says in a statement, with composite-material “eLeather” upholstery, two-inch recline, and adjustable headrests. At 17.8 inches wide, they are indeed more spacious than the 17.2-inch-wide options on 737s flown by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, according to SeatGuru. Thinner armrests will also make seats feel more spacious, Southwest says.

Photo Courtesy Southwest Airlines

Instead of a seat-back pocket at the knees, Southwest has moved that to the top of the seat, giving passengers just a shade more legroom. Southwest says the pitch, or the distance between one point on a seat and the same point on a seat ahead or behind, will be 32 inches, which is fairly generous for a domestic airline.

Photo Courtesy Southwest Airlines

Southwest will be the first airline to fly the new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft when it launches in 2017, and it will be outfitted with the new seats. The airline will also add them to future deliveries of its 737-800 aircraft.

Photo Courtesy Southwest Airlines

Also critical, at least to the airline: The new fixtures are lighter than existing seats, which should lead to greater fuel efficiency for Southwest. A focus on saving weight explains another, less-welcome fact about the new seats: There will be no power plugs available.

Photo Courtesy Southwest Airlines

As of now, Southwest has 175 seats on each of its 737-800 aircraft—and the new Max version of the plane will have the same number when it arrives in 2017.